BCN Mes is hosting a writer+illustrator competition this month that has me super excited. I’m not sure why, it just sounds like it could be a lot of fun.

If you would like to take part go to the Arroz Negro section on BCN Mes and sign up. You can sign up as, a writer looking for an illustrator, vice versa, or if you’re one of those lucky ones…. you know, the type who have friends, you and your writer/illustrator friend can register as a team.

The stories can be in Catalan, Castellano or English. If you’re one of the lonesome this is the time to start messaging other lonely hearts registered on the website to link up. You have until the 20th of October to register your team.

On the 21st of October each team will be given, a guideline, a genre, and a key word and graphic element that must be included in the story and accompanying illustrations.

Teams have until the 31st of October to submit their work. BCN Mes will then choose the best 8 teams and publish them in the November edition. A nice bit of publicity for your effort, and heaps of fun. You heard me. Heaps of fun!

Picture: Yoshi Sislay: One example in which I think the writer wouldn’t keep up with the illustrator.

The event will map Barcelona’s street art according to Barrio, bringing together the artists and residents who create the distinctive character and mood which marks each neighborhood in Barcelona.

The exhibition titled Las Calles Hablan (The Streets Talk) is scheduled for the end of October but before that can happen, MBPA faces a huge challenge. It needs to raise 2,500 dollars by September 19th or the event won’t happen. If you believe in street art and would like to support this noncommercial art form, visit their funding page on kickstarter, read more, and help them out if you can.

For the last week or so, I’ve been house-sitting for some friends who live in the tiny village of Alella, near the coastal village of El Masnou. It’s been a week of slow living, and a week of luxurious living, due largely to the little pool in the backyard.

I’ve enjoyed the novelty of living in a real house, a grown-up house. They even have grown-up books to read.

I read one last night called Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers. It’s an introduction to a Japanese aesthetic called Wabi-Sabi. It’s a funny little book and the author, Leonard Koren deserves a lot of credit for keeping it short.

As to how well he describes the philosophy, I can’t say since I’m not Japanese and my knowledge of Japanese culture is appalling.

According to him:

Wabi-sabi is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.

It is a beauty of things modest and humble.

It is a beauty of things unconventional.

Inspired by this book, and a lack of cable TV, I took my camera into the garden. I don’t know what it was about the philosophy, but it ended up being the most fun I’ve had taking pictures for a while.

If a man does something which isn’t witnessed by the Cat, that performance makes no sound, creates no image and leaves no impression.

It did not happen, if the Cat did not see it.

We didn’t come up with this understanding ourselves of course, some clever clogs did it hundreds of years ago. William Fosset (Natural States, 1754) wrote:

“to say something is meaningful is to say that that is how we arrange it so; how we comprehend it to be, and what is comprehended by you or I may not be by a cat, for example.

If a tree falls in a park and there is no-one to hand, it is silent and invisible and nameless. And if we were to vanish, there would be no tree at all; any meaning would vanish along with us. Other than what the cats make of it all, of course.”

From the land of perfection, control, rigid hierarchies and near religious protocol and etiquette, come the craziest, funniest artists I have ever met.

Soubugen are an art duo who play new and evolving sounds with traditional instruments. Hisao Suginak plays a traditional Japanese string instrument, the Shamisen. Hisao on his Shamisen is not unlike watching a lead guitarist in a rock n roll band go off on one! Think Japanese Jimmy Hendrix.

Sarya Yuko, is a Japanese dancer who also plays the Tambura, a traditional string instrument from India. Together the duo create a fantastic show.

The couple live in Sapporo a city on the island of Hokkaido and have been visiting Spain and Barcelona for the last 4 to 5 years. Speaking little English, less Spanish and the language of music, they make friends wherever they go and love nothing better than finding other musicians to jam with. Don’t miss them this season!

2. Traditional Japanese dance workshop by Yuko
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
Venue: Espai Ku, Canvis Nous 1
Two classes, both two hours long for 20 Euros. Ladies, you get to dress up in kimonos and dance about. To book your place, call the organiser at Ku -657 73 83 96 chisatoceramica@yahoo.es

3. Tuesday 19 April
Venue: Espai Ku
Time: 8pm

For more concert dates visit their facebook page. Hanging about the internet and facebooking isn’t their thing, so if you have questions about any of their shows, get in touch with the venue.